The story via MassLive.com –
At first glance, Tanner Beebe looks like any other ordinary 12-year-old, not the subject of a controversy that has engulfed Little League baseball in a city with a passion for the sport.
He stands 5 fe...
The story via MassLive.com –
At first glance, Tanner Beebe looks like any other ordinary 12-year-old, not the subject of a controversy that has engulfed Little League baseball in a city with a passion for the sport.
He stands 5 feet, 1 inch tall and weighs 90 pounds, a healthy, but not physically imposing, youngster.
But there is power in his right arm – too much power for some parents in Westfield and for the rules makers of Little League, Inc.
“I’m getting in trouble and being punished because I’m too good,” says Beebe, who continues to play on his team in the city’s “minor league,” but was banned from pitching after doing so in two games.
It’s not that simple, according to John Wheeler, president of Westfield Little League.
“We were overruled by the Eastern Regional Little League office (in Bristol, Conn.),” Wheeler said. “There is an (international Little League) rule that 12-year-olds can’t pitch in a city’s minor league.”
Beebe and his father, Chris, are convinced the ban is because Tanner throws too hard, which makes him too good. In a sense, they may be correct.
Had Tanner been just an ordinary pitcher, it’s likely the regional office would have never heard about him, and he would still be pitching instead of playing other positions, where he is still allowed to participate.
That is because Westfield has allowed 12-year-olds to pitch in the minor leagues for years. Rather than implement the national rule, the city has chosen to serve as its own judge for which 12-year-olds might simply not be up to speed for the city’s more advanced “major league,” but still want to play baseball at some level.
Westfield’s self-autonomy on this rule was never an issue until Beebe started firing fastballs that reach 60 mph.
After doing so in a May 3 game, protests about his pitching reached regional officials in Bristol, Conn., who told Wheeler that Westfield had to follow the rule or risk losing its charter with Little League, Inc.
The Beebe story has all the elements of a modern youth sports controversy. From Little League through high school, the city of Westfield has a storied baseball tradition and takes great pride in its reputation.
At issue in this case are fairness of competition, adherence to rules set by outsiders and behavior of parents. It is not unprecedented.
In 2008 in New Haven, Conn., 9-year-old Jericho Scott threw so hard for his age that supervisors in his city’s youth league (which was not affiliated with Little League, Inc.) banned him from pitching.
Scott was not breaking any league rules, but organizers said his pitching ran counter to the purpose of the league, which encouraged beginners to play baseball. The case sparked a national debate over whether some youngsters were being coddled while others were being penalized for having too much talent.
In the Westfield case, Tanner was the beginner. He was in full compliance with a local rule that, unbeknownst to him, conflicted with a national rule.
He was also a 12-year-old who was playing in a division of almost entirely younger players, some as young as 9.
Tanner had played lacrosse until this year, when he decided to try baseball and focus on pitching. Father and son practiced together, but to the league, Tanner was a newcomer and, therefore, unknown.
Prior to each season, Westfield holds tryouts that are used for evaluation. Beebe’s father said Tanner threw six pitches.
Wheeler said that had Tanner had been drafted by a team in the majors, league rules stipulated he would have been required to play in the majors or not at all. Because of that, the league president said he assumed Tanner had not been drafted.
The player’s preference to play for his father and in the minors was clear. But, by the second game, “people (in the stands) were taunting me,” he said.
“It got nasty,” his father added.
The Beebes say that had Tanner known he could only pitch in the majors, he would have taken that route. But he had never played organized baseball, so he